Mulholland Falls

R

Released Apr 26, 1996

1 hr. 47 min.

Mystery & Thriller

List

31%

32 Reviews

Tomatometer

39%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the desert near Los Angeles, a beautiful woman named Allison Pond (Jennifer Connelly) is found murdered. A special investigative unit led by hard-edged detective Max Hoover (Nick Nolte) is brought in when it looks like the victim may have ties to a secret military program. But Hoover has his own secret: Unbeknown to his adoring wife (Melanie Griffith), Allison is his ex-mistress, and her friend Jimmy Fields (Andrew McCarthy) has secretly filmed pornographic evidence of their affair.

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Critics Consensus

Mulholland Falls' vacant characterizations and thin story undercuts its impressive cast and potent style, making for an empty exercise in noir posturing.

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Victor T

Jennifer Connolly with her supreme beauty as a call girl is the only reason to see this film.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/20/23

Full Review

douglas b

Too much mumbling and not enough story. A wasted cast and art direction. Too bad.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Jonathan B

Underrated mystery film. I thought the cast — Nick Nolte, Chaz Palminteri, John Malkovich, Jennifer Connolly — were all fantastic. It is a brutal and uncompromising look at the LA hat squad of the 1950s, and a foreboding atomic neo-noir (replace Chinatown's water angle with nuclear technology).

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/25/22

Full Review

ronald h

"Mulholland Falls" (1996) is an L.A. noir 1950's period piece with a stellar cast: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, and Chazz Palminteri, with John Malkovich, Bruce Dern, Treat Williams, and Daniel Baldwin (Alec's brother). How could it go wrong? It mostly doesn't. Some critics have complained that the "noir" aspect seems contrived and some of the dialogue is corny and artificial. But isn't that true of virtually all film noir? Nolte plays Max Hoover, a married homicide cop with a secret in his past that comes to light when his erstwhile girlfriend-on-the-side is found dead at a construction site in L.A. To make things worse, a reel of film shows up at his desk, showing her having sex with a high-ranking military man (Malkovich), and there are allegedly other reels showing her with Hoover. In addition, the coroner finds bits of radioactive glass embedded in her feet. So Hoover and his three detective buddies (all in three piece suits and fedoras, they're known as the Hat Squad) investigate a nearby government installation where nuclear testing has been taking place. It's a good plot. But the real fun is in the mannerisms of the inhabitants of the 1950's. Everybody smokes constantly. Political correctness does not exist. The women all look like Playboy pinups. And the cars! The Hat Squad cruises around in a Buick Roadmaster convertible that's to die for. Also, Hoover carries a leather sap, which he uses to dispense with three annoying FBI agents and anybody else who gets in his way. Those were the days….. The opening scenes will hook you immediately: The Hat Squad walk into a fancy restaurant, take a gangster into custody (beating up his associates in the process), drive him to the top of a hill on Mulholland Drive, and dump him off a cliff. "Mulholland Falls," get it? "Mulholland Falls" is serious noir, almost, but not quite, making fun of serious noir. If you get that, you'll be hugely entertained.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

kevin f

Another victim of the Peter Stack clown car brigade; Mulholland Falls manages to put a "star studded cast" into a solid story with a decent screenplay. Solid performances from an excellent cast, where surprisingly, the cast doesn't overwhelm the narrative. There are a couple of awful lines, but overall it's a sold neo noir entry that fell afoul of the insecure critic artiste that was a plague on the 1980's: Peter Stack, Mick LaSalle, and the legendarily clueless Glen Lovell, who brilliantly opined "Aliens" was the worst sequel Hollywood created, and the end of Cameron's career. Well worth the watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

jake b

Excellent Movie. Very entertaining, a well-acted timepiece. Film Noir. I wish more of these would be made.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Lee Tamahori

Director

Nick Nolte

Max Hoover

Melanie Griffith

Katherine Hoover

Chazz Palminteri

Elleroy Coolidge

Michael Madsen

Eddie Hall

Chris Penn

Arthur Relyea

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

The cast is really good, the story is interesting but it was kind of a let down at the end.

Rated: C+

Sep 12, 2017

Full Review

Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 2/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Mike Clark

USA Today

Connelly, Melanie Griffith and Bruce Dern all fare well in a predominantly misused cast, but the tone of this talkfest is dreary.

Rated: 1.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Brian Orndorf

Blu-ray.com

Tamahori struggles to find a character balance that brings out the intended feeling of partnership and personal sacrifice.

Rated: C

Sep 21, 2020

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

It may betray its genre intentions, but it's nevertheless well-acted and routinely entertaining.

Rated: 6/10

Sep 16, 2020

Full Review

Scott Nash

Three Movie Buffs

An imperfect but still entertaining neo-noir mystery.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 26, 2010

Full Review

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Synopsis

In the desert near Los Angeles, a beautiful woman named Allison Pond (Jennifer Connelly) is found murdered. A special investigative unit led by hard-edged detective Max Hoover (Nick Nolte) is brought in when it looks like the victim may have ties to a secret military program. But Hoover has his own secret: Unbeknown to his adoring wife (Melanie Griffith), Allison is his ex-mistress, and her friend Jimmy Fields (Andrew McCarthy) has secretly filmed pornographic evidence of their affair.

Director: Lee Tamahori
Executive Producer: Mario Iscovich
Screenwriter: Peter Dexter, Floyd Mutrux
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 26, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $11.5M
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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